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How to paint headlight housings (DIY)

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Old Jul 20, 2007 | 06:37 PM
  #106  
Rice7x's Avatar
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Chi-Town
Originally Posted by KarlsLancer
put mine is a couple days ago, color matched it blue, looks sweet
when u made it blue, did u still use a black primer... or white.. just want to be sure because i dunt think blue would show up over black...
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Old Jul 24, 2007 | 12:46 PM
  #107  
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From: Houston/Huntsville Tx
think im gonna start on mine this week!
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Old Jul 24, 2007 | 05:33 PM
  #108  
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From: Carlsbad, CA
Im hopefully going to do mine tommorow i cant wait. I decided on painting them black. What is the best paint to use?
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Old Jul 24, 2007 | 06:16 PM
  #109  
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From: Waterville, ME
Originally Posted by Frankracer88
Im hopefully going to do mine tommorow i cant wait. I decided on painting them black. What is the best paint to use?
any paint. krylon. any you like. I prefer gloss black.
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Old Dec 24, 2007 | 03:00 PM
  #110  
socomplete's Avatar
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From: memphis TN
Nvm

Last edited by socomplete; Dec 24, 2007 at 04:03 PM.
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Old Jul 31, 2009 | 03:14 AM
  #111  
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From: Las Vegas
So, I realize I'm way behind the power curve on this, but just did this to my headlights today. Great DIY post, everything went pretty smooth. Thanks for posting it.
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Old Aug 11, 2009 | 09:59 PM
  #112  
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From: Eugene, Oregon
wow, this is my first time logging in for literally a year (april 08).. I still can't believe this thread is alive and I am AMAZED that it has 11,860 views (I initially posted this on Feb 14, 2004). I'm quite happy that 5 years later, its still helping people

(for anyone who remembers me, i still have the car and its my daily driver .. the body kit is beat to crap but its running strong)
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Old Mar 15, 2013 | 08:38 PM
  #113  
Cudi's Avatar
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From: Bay area, CA
Just have to say good write up. One of my headlights is brand new because when i bought the car one of them was cracked. The dealer agreed to replace it but then i had one good looking HL an one prehistoric one! The newer headlights have a shiny gun metal while the old one had some flat grey in it. Now they both match, + no amber!
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Old Mar 31, 2014 | 11:29 AM
  #114  
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From: CT
Originally Posted by digdat
1. Pop the hood, remove 3 bolts per headlight. These are 10mm bolts.
2. Unplug the headlight bulbs
3. Pull headlight housing out and take inside
4. Pre-heat your oven to 275 degrees
5. Clean the headlight lenses
6. Remove all bulbs, unscrew and remove the wiring mounting brackets, set in safe place
7. Get a cookie sheet, grab a medium sized towel, make it moist with water, and place it on cookie sheet
8. After removing ALL bulbs from HL, stick on cookie sheet
9. Place cookie sheet with HL on it in oven for 5-6 minutes (not much more, one HL at a time)
10. Use oven gloves to remove cookie sheet
11. Gently bend the "clips" surrounding the housing upwards (they are black little over clips, which hold in the clear plastic, you will see them).
12. Pull the clear plastic away from the back housing, I used a screw driver and CAREFULLY/slowly pried small parts away around the housing and then pulled apart
13. Repeat steps 8-12 for 2nd headlight
14. Remove the inner chrome piece from the clear part of the headlight. You will need to unscrew 2 screws with a Phillips screw driver
15. You will see a clear plastic circle thing in the housing (blinker light cover). GENTLY remove this by pushing the clip on the top down. Be CAREFULL. I broke one of mine (this IMO is the hardest part of this project)
16. Sand the chrome housing somewhat with 400grit sand paper. This helps the paint stick (OPTIONAL)
17. Find a place to paint
18. Coat the chrome housing with black primer. Spray lightly, you will spray this 3 times total with primer
19. Let sit 15 minutes
20. Re-spray with primer
21. Let sit 15 minutes
22. Re-spray with primer
23. Let sit 15 minutes
24. Spray with the color you have chosen. Most do black, I did a gunmetal metallic flake
25. Let sit 15 minutes
26. Re-spray with color
27. Let sit 15 minutes
28. Re-spray with color
29. Let the light dry for a few hours in a warm area
30. After drying, re-insert the clear plastic circle thing in the housing, this should 'pop' back into place
31. Put the painted pieces back in the clear housing, re-screw them into place.
32. Stick the back housing and the clear part back together, get it lined up as close as possible
33. Stick back in oven (on cookie sheet) for 5 minutes to allow glue to soften
34. Push the headlight back into place, making sure the clips pop back into/over the holders
35. Put the bulbs back in and re-mount the wiring mounts
36. Re-install back into car

NOTE: When I had my headlights apart, I tinted the round clear lenses that cover the blinker light. I coated them each two times and it came out very nice. Dark to look like eyes, not too dark so that when my blinker is on, they don't "shine".
Headlight won't come off
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Old Jun 25, 2014 | 07:58 PM
  #115  
EvoSeanzie's Avatar
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
I have an idea! I'm going to try to knock this out and get pictures.

Thinking of getting the bezel hydro dipped with the carbon fiber look! I wonder how this will turn out?
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